French Antiques
By Helen Costantino Fioratti

An Introduction to
Collecting French Furniture

Part 6
By Helen Costantino Fioratti

It seems very unflattering to parents that so many people thoroughly dislike the type of decoration in which they were raised. When furnishing a house of their own, they want to get as far away from their parents' taste as possible. On the other hand, they frequently boast of their grandmother's possessions, which they hold in far greater esteem than the objects themselves merit. Perhaps they are pleased with the thought that they had a grandmother of substance, sufficiently well-placed to have left some mementos.

Although beautiful pieces remain beautiful under all circumstances, there are modes and fashions in antiques as in everything else. Some of the changes are due to the difference in construction, for it is impossible to house large sumptuous pieces in the new low rooms now being built. When the fine pieces of one popular period are impossible to find, or are priced so high that very few people can afford them, the designer is obliged to turn his imagination into other channels and launch a style that he can find on the market and that his client can afford.

The expression nouveau riche is uncomplimentary, and opprobrium is attached to the term parvenu. This is quite unfair. What would have become of art had there been no new rich to encourage and foster it and to support the artists? The man who has earned his money himself is not afraid to spend it. He knows how to go about getting more.

In the process of collecting he is learning and, since he is probably clever, even if he may never before have concerned himself with the subject, he learns fast and is a sincere acolyte at the altar of art. Its acquisition not only gives him a social position which he could not otherwise acquire in less than a generation, but he also begins to appreciate and love fine things for their own sake. Eventually, even without previous experience in the field, he can become a very astute and keen connoisseur.

The great nobles of yesteryear were nouveaux riches in their times, only fortunately for their descendants, it was long enough ago to have been forgotten. Nobody quarrels with the acceptance of their attitude of superiority, although frequently their sole claim to distinction is that their ancestors were robber barons or successful soldiers in the distant past. When, a few hundred years ago, a man was invested with a title and lands, he invariably set to work to build the most splendid castle, chateau, or estate within his imagination and his means. How does he differ from the new rich of today? More often than not the old aristocratic families with their effete culture have lost the vitality of their ancestors. Some have been living for years on the sale of their accumulated wealth and treasures. It seems to me that the difference between the rich and the new rich lies in the manner in which they spend their money. With longer experience the old rich acquire better taste and generally spend more gracefully. But this is not always true, especially when a person with newly acquired wealth makes a serious study of art in all its forms and acquires a certain culture in a very short time.

Many people who acquire money suddenly and want to surround themselves with luxury engage a designer to produce a lush and expensive setting. Here in American, they usually begin by spending a fortune on bars, fancy kitchens, gold-plated bathroom fixtures, and expensive floor coverings. Window draperies, for example, not only spill over on the floor to produce a lavish effect, but also cut off all the light so highly prized, advertised and paid for. Good exposures count for naught, since fresh air, free of the fumes of the streets, which can only be enjoyed on the upper floors in the biggest cities, is entirely shut off and air-conditioned. With artificial light used almost exclusively, one might as well be living in a cave!